Best of

the Twin Cities

Best Local Commercial

Fancy Ray for Taco Bell

The Vikings didn't make Super Bowl 50, but Viking metal does in this unexpected commercial from Treehouse Records and fast-food behemoth Taco Bell. In the Age of Locally Made — whether that means beer or soap or your kid's scarf — people want something they connect with, which has left the chains scrambling. But what happens when national and neighborhood come together in the least expected place? Anyone still paying attention after Cam Newton's collapse began was surprised to see the enigmatic Fancy Ray turn up in a Super Bowl ad. When the curly-haired pitchman pulls a quesalupa from a Taco Bell record sleeve, the message is delivered with delicious absurdity: dusty old records gone greasy drive-thru, from Lyndale Avenue to every highway in the state.